R. City comes to The Republik with infectious Caribbean fusion sound

From their humble beginnings growing up in the rough and tumble housing projects in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands to their current incarnation as hit makers on a mission, Theron and Timothy Thomas, best known as R. City, have successfully introduced their feel-good fusion of Caribbean soca, hip-hop, reggae and dancehall tunes to the world and, by all accounts, birthed the latest trend in pop music.

In 2015, the brothers took it to the next level, showing their moxie and ability as singers on the breakout single “Locked Away” featuring Adam Levine. Until then, writing chart-topping songs for superstars including Rihanna (“Pour It Up,” “Man Down”), Usher (“I Don’t Mind”), Nicki Minaj (“Only”) and Miley Cyrus (“We Can’t Stop”) had been the Thomas brothers’ biggest claim to fame.

“Locked Away,” a heartfelt tune about the emotional distress of being separated from a loved one and relationship loyalty during tough times, brought worldwide attention. It’s on R. City’s debut album, “What Dreams Are Made Of,” along with current single “Make Up.”

Theron Thomas called from his home in Atlanta earlier this week, speaking candidly about the power of ignoring critics, the constant challenges of the music industry and why R. City brought the Caribbean vibes of their homeland to American pop music.

Star-Advertiser: Watching music videos on MTV and BET introduced you to hip-hop culture. What were some of your favorite music videos growing up?

Theron Thomas: LL Cool J’s “I’m Bad” video was ill. Chubb Rock “Treat Me Right.” Rob Bass “It Takes Two.” That whole hip-hop era when people were dancing. Coming from a small island and seeing visuals like that makes it real to (us). There’s no famous people or role models we could have looked up to where we come from. We watched those videos and grew up with the energy that anything is possible.

SA: Out of all the artists you have written songs for, what phone call was the most unexpected?

THOMAS: I don’t want to sound cliche, but I would say all of them. We didn’t start as songwriters; we honest-to-God thought everyone wrote their own songs. There is a song we did for Akon, we wrote it in seventh grade. It was our song and Akon used it and paid us $5,000. We had that song for about 15 years.

SA: Quincy Jones once told you to focus on the hook of a song. How have you taken his advice and applied it the R. City songwriting process?

THOMAS: We would always write the chorus first. If the chorus is whack it doesn’t matter what the song sounds like — that’s the important thing so we would always start there. When he said that, it just struck something in me. After that, when we wrote “Pour It Up,” we wanted to make the song one big chorus.

SA: Where did the desire to entertain and perform originate from?

THOMAS: The first concert we went to was a Run DMC concert. We were 3 or 4 years old. That was life-changing for me. Run told everybody to “wave their hands in the air,” and as a kid, watching the grown-ups listen to everything he said was really weird to me. Then Kris Kross came out, and we were even more amazed.

SA: With the newfound fame, what has been the most frustrating part of the music industry?

THOMAS: It’s constantly having to prove yourself. The music business is very forgetful.

SA: Does having to prove yourselves over and over again get old?

THOMAS: We built a fan base on that — on being the underdogs or the “Little Engine That Could.” We build our brand on it: People come to R. City to be inspired. Rihanna is a sex symbol, a fashionista, that’s what she represents. Usher is a sex symbol. DMX was a gangster. Tupac was a thug. People build these brands and represent these things that take on a life of their own. Me and my brother weren’t purposely trying to be underdogs. We were purposely trying to inspire others with our stories. R. City just kind of became that voice that kids and people can live their dreams through.

SA: What is the best way to classify authentic Caribbean music versus “wannabe” Caribbean music? In a recent interview you described the “wannabe” sound as “thieving the culture.”

THOMAS: What bothers me is people not knowing what the difference is between generic and what is authentic. It’s like eating curry chicken at a soul food place. I’m not saying it’s not good. For us, we just want people to know the difference. Authentic Caribbean music, you can hear it in the rhythms and the beats, the sounds that they use and the way that they talk.

SA: Drake performed “One Dance,” a Caribbean-style tune, on “Saturday Night Live” last week. Ariana Grande’s current single featuring Nicki Minaj, “Side to Side,” definitely has an island vibe. Does R. City take credit for the current trend?

THOMAS: I definitely will. We had Miley Cyrus saying, “We run things. Things don’t run we.” All our melodies and everything we do stems from our Caribbean culture, to the point where we send in demos and people say, “Yo, can you sing it a little less Caribbean so I can sing it the American way?”

SA: What is your relationship with Dr. Luke and Kemosabe Records now and moving forward? (Note: R. City is signed to Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe Records imprint. Dr. Luke has an ongoing, highly publicized court battle with pop singer Kesha, who has accused the producer of sexual assault.)

THOMAS: Luke is actually in Hawaii right now; we don’t have any problems. He gave me and my brother an opportunity that we wanted our whole life. He gave us our first No. 1. He got Adam Levine on our first single. Our relationship with Dr. Luke, Kemosabe Records and everybody who was part of our album is 100. It’s all love.

SA: What else is on the R. City bucket list?

THOMAS: As songwriters I personally would like to win Songwriter of the Year at the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Awards. Me and my brother want to win a Grammy where we can walk onstage. Not the Grammy where they give you and you sit in the audience. No, I want to be able to walk onstage and tell the whole world that St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, has arrived.